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Monday, January 7, 2013

Foie Gras and Chicken Liver

One is French the other English? No, of course not. But calling goose liver Foie Gras just sounds more elegant. They are basically both livers, one from the chicken and one from the goose. But there is one huge difference, the goose liver is from a force fed animal. At least partly force fed. Already the ancient Romans enjoyed catching the geese when going south in late autumn, their liver big and fatty for the long journey.

Of course there is no comparison to the goose liver of today. Today, the geese are fed till the liver has a size that nearly fills the entire stomach cavity, not good, I admit. So the goal is to find a producer that produces the liver more natural, they are a lot smaller, but still have this lovely flavor.

I like to combine goose and chicken liver. There are several reasons for it, one is that they are both different in taste, but still compliment each other. And then there is of course a cost factor, it is a lot cheaper to do a goose liver terrine and then stretch it a bit, but still have it full of flavor

The recipe is actually totally easy, I got it from a great chef in Switzerland a couple of years ago and I am still doing it regularly.

Clean the foie gras and cut in 2 cm pieces
Blend the chicken liver, then strain through a fine sieve
Melt the butter, add to the chicken liver
Beat the eggs and add to the mix
Add Brandy and season to taste......yes you should taste the mix before cooking it, sounds terrible but can avoid that your terrine is too salty or lacks salt

Lay out a terrine form with plastic wrap
Pour the mix in the terrine form, then add the foie gras pieces
Cover and poach carefully at 80C for about 45 minutes.